Christmas

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A Box for Everything

The holiday season official ends in our house today. The dozen or so holiday decoration boxes (probably more than that) have been hauled out and it’s time to undress the house of all its cheery, colorful Christmas and Hanukkah finery.

The weeks following can be drab. The lights are out; the days are short and it’s a long winter’s wait for pitchers and catchers to report or for boating season or whatever lights your fancy in warmer, sunnier weather.

While I was putting away the decorations this year, I noted that since my son is now 18 and all these boxes may someday be his, I wanted to be sure he knows where this collection comes from. He knows the train platform, trains and the ‘Plasticville’ houses and buildings are older than me (yikes). But the tree trimmings XmasDay_20121225_07 - Copyand decorations that go up throughout the house have been collected through the years. Fortunately, I have marked boxes with the year in which I acquired some of the decorations. I am correcting some of the markings though so my son knows that some of these decorations date back to MY grandmother.

There is no way I can let go oImagef the little handmade decorations that Adam made from the time he was able to hold a crayon in his little hand. I have several envelopes of those types of tree ornaments. I put some of them on this year’s Christmas tree. Now, there are so many ornaments and decorations, I’d have to have three or four Christmas trees to use all of the ornaments. Hopefully, I’ll remember for Christmas 2013 what stayed in its box this past Christmas.

It seems every Christmas I end up decorating most of the house and tree myself for one reason or another. It was lovely this year to have my son and husband help pull out the boxes and dismantle a lot of the decorations. Somehow it was less depressing.

In a matter of weeks, the crack of the bat, the green, green grass of spring training fields and another season of hope for the Phillies will make the winter melt into the warmer, sunnier season.

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It’s That Time of Year

Whether you have holiday lights twinkling around your house or not, the signs of the holiday season are everywhere. The thing is, it’s the signs you can’t see that really count.

We spent a quick 36 hours in Washington, D.C. for a family scout weekend. The three of us and three other families enjoyed family time in the nation’s capital. The shockingly blue, cloudless sky was the backdrop for all of the national monuments and museums we could squeeze in during the long Saturday and Sunday morning excursions. I was truly in awe of the Library of Congresswhich was Doug’s choice for a visit. The architecture alone was

Christmas tree in the Library of Congress

something to behold. The holiday decorations were stunning.

We stumbled upon a neighborhood cafe just one block away from the Library of Congress and enjoyed a little eavesdropping during lunch; listening to the conversations of the people who live and work in the district. I really enjoy hearing stories other people tell about their lives; Mainly because it’s not MY life.

We toured the capitol, which beyond the amazing structure (the dome weighs 900 tons), it was a little disappointing that we could not see the actual chambers where our lawmakers meet. This post 9/11 world is a reality that you just can’t get around.

I managed to squeeze in something I always wanted to do: walk along the National Mall before anyone else is up and about. Doug and I laced up our sneakers and bundled up against the 7 a.m. Sunday morning cold and spent a half hour on the Mall. The Capitol & Washington Monument were an amazing shade of pink as the winter sunrise struck the white buildings. A cold mist hovered along the walkways. The Smithsonian Museum at the center of the mall look like the old man anchoring all of the buildings that in just a few hours would be bustling with visitors. Besides a lone runner or two and a few people walking to work or toiling to take down event tents from the day before, the National Mall was at peace. All the history and information within all those buildings was at rest awaiting more

people to soak up the value of everything that is compiled in those many buildings.

After our evening meal as a group, we walked a mile to the see the national Christmas Tree. At the breathtaking site with the White House as a backdrop, adorned with festive wreaths were many other families, enjoying the crisp evening air and the holiday lights. I couldn’t help but wonder how many more times the three of us might be together to enjoy such a treasure. The real treasure though, is our time together. The sounds of children watching the toy trains chugging along the tracks around the huge evergreen and grandparents reveling in the time spent with the grandchildren both young and old fills you with hope that there are better times ahead.

Boy Scout Troop 8

With the holidays just about here, there are about a million things I have to do between work and home to welcome the family for Christmas. In between, we’re taking a Hanukkah dinner to friends of ours who just can’t get out and are having a lot of family challenges this year. Despite everything they are going through, they are such remarkable, loving people who take everything one step and one day at a time.

So, in all of your hustle and bustle, remember what really counts – the love of your family and friends and what you can give to others – your time – laughter – and a nice, warm meal. Go light the lights.

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Time to turn out the holiday lights

Holidays are about traditions. Holidays are about remembering, reflecting and lots of boxes of decorations. For several reasons this holiday season, I put up every decoration on my own. That includes the lights and garland winding around our 7 1/2 foot tree in the living room.

Today, all the fa-la-la of the holidays ended. My guys brought down the mega boxes from the attic and one-by-one, throughout the day, the boxes of ornaments, collected for years and years, were carefully wrapped and put away for another 11 months. As I was taking down the trinkets that adorned our tree this year, I remembered what it was like to begin collecting each ornament; where I found it; how I felt when I bought it; what it was like to put the ornament on our tree for the first time. At first, I felt sad that so many years have gone by, but then I realized, as time marches on, it’s all about reflecting and remembering.

Over the weekend as I watched the Penn State-LSU game, the announcers kept talking about the Penn State quarterback and his legacy. How will he be remembered without a Bowl win? In the end, as Penn State won the close game, it was clear the QB was thrilled, but he’d been annoyed there was so much attention to his legacy and not on the team’s accomplishments. Life is full of so many moments. You string them all together, and you have yourself a life. The QB’s history at Penn State will surely impact his life, but he has so many more moments and milestones to come. I’ve been reflecting on the year past for me. While I have moved on from looking in that rear-view mirror, I now want more impact in my own life.

What’s next? A focus on community and serving, whether it’s within the organizations I am already involved with or extending into other communities that need a leg up. Perhaps I can link one of the group’s I’m involved with to the business communications class I am teaching this spring. I’d like to use my talent as a communicator to better other lives. Maybe the students taking the class can help in Camden or other communities. Now, I have to find the way to make that happen.

Today, the boxes of ornaments are tucked back in the attic, but ornaments that make up my life are being created each day this year.

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One of 8 Nights

Every holiday season brings ups and downs. It seems the time between Thanksgiving and New Year gets shorter all the time. We start with Thanksgiving, my mom’s favorite holiday because no gifts are required, she always says. Sometimes as soon as Thanksgiving night according to the Jewish calendar, Hanukkah arrives. Celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas in our home means more of a rush. We now have to choose our

Our perfect Christmas tree from Culbertson's

Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The shrinking number of tree farms offering evergreens for sale has shrunk as open space seems to gobble up those farms. This year, Hanukkah began Friday, December 11. Fortunately, the three of us were all in the same place at the same time so we could light the candles. Saturday, we drove to New York for a Hanukkah dinner with Doug’s brother, sister-in-law and other family. What a joy!
Our two nephews, aged 9 and 6 had their performances all ready. Nick played the violin and Noah read a

Noah's winter poem

poem he had written about winter. Larisa was too shy to share her talent, but her “blondness” is just so cute, just smiling was “show” enough. I brought along a book written by a distant relative, Jane Breskin Zalben, “Pearl’s Eight Days of Chanukah.” It was simply a joy to have the children and others gathered around listening to the story of Pearl whose cousins were visiting during the Festival of Lights. It was made more special since the author, from Long Island, was somehow related. I have since emailed her to tell her of sharing her story with the New York Breskins. I hope to hear back from her.
Meantime, as a winter cold settles in, we are a week from Christmas. We have two more nights of lighting the Hanukkah candles (if we’re all at home at the same time). The Joretts will spend Christmas dinner with us, so the decorations are going up. I figure by President’s Day I’ll be finished. The house always looks so festive and warm. I can never bake enough cookies for the holiday and before I know it, it’s New Years and time to think about taking everything down.

Reading "pearl's 8 Nights of Chanukah"

The holidays mean less for those who have lost someone. At the gym this morning a woman came in to tell the folks at the gym her husband, who’d been a faithful exerciser, had died of a sudden heart attack this week. Our friend, Agnes lost her husband several years ago. She says she’ll spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at a friend’s, but she doesn’t much like the holidays anymore.

Doug and the nephews light the lights

My son hasn’t mentioned it yet, but for years, he and I have gone into Philadelphia to enjoy the light display at Macy’s, which of course, used to be John Wanamaker’s. We’ve added the Comcast display and walking through City Hall courtyard to see the official city holiday tree. Lunch is always at Reading Terminal Market, Adam’s favorite. Tradition!
Here’s hoping we find quiet moments to be thankful for the time we have with our family and friends and be sure to mark off some special moments to share and remember. Happy Holidays!